The Halloween Hoax
by Lyrakins
Summary: Just a short ficlet I wrote for Lang. Arts. It's not my best, but it's complete.


Muah. The ish my little ficlet, I had to use 10 vocab words in it. Sorreh about the shortness, enjoy!  
  
The Halloween Hoax  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, unfortunately for me.  
  
Every Halloween, there was a magnificent and glorious feast held in the Great Hall. In addition, there was a side event during the feast that most students called the Halloween Hoax. Technically, this was just where everyone pranked the other houses, but none were as fierce as the Gryffindors. The masterminds went by the names of James Potter, Lily Evans, Remus Lupin, and Sirius Black, all age seventeen.  
  
Today was the day, October 31. Up in the Gryffindor Common Room the Marauders, as James, Remus, and Sirius were known and Lily sat plotting for the feast that night.  
  
"James, we really shouldn't be doing this you know," scolded the scarlet haired and emerald-eyed Lily, his girlfriend.  
  
"Lily Flower, lighten up!" James, the ebony haired and hazel-eyed one, also known as Prongs, teased the girl affectionately with a mischievous grin.  
  
"Yeah, Evans," Sirius, who had black hair with dark chocolate brown eyes, alias Padfoot, seconded.  
  
"Sorry to say this Padfoot, I rather agree with Lily," the placid voice belonging to Remus, a sandy haired and gold-green eyed boy, also addressed as Moony, spoke up.  
  
"Thank you Remus," she said. "I'm glad one of you has a sense of decorum," Lily eyed the other two youths disapprovingly.  
  
James and Sirius grinned sheepishly. "We know," spoke Sirius.  
  
"But we want this to be a Hoax that everyone remembers," chimed in James.  
  
"After all, it's our last year here," agreed Sirius.  
  
"They do have a reasonable argument," Remus pointed out.  
  
"I suppose." Lily trailed off, smiling as James placed an arm around her waist.  
  
The four went on with their planning session as the day darkened into evening, a crescent moon blocked by clouds, signaling a brewing tempest to be unleashed shortly. The Great Hall was packed with noisy, rambunctious students, all seated at their proper house tables and discussing various things ranging from their pranks to love interests.  
  
Sirius's countenance was a cross between a smirk and a grin. "Prongs, this is going to be a good one..."  
  
"I fully agree dearest Padfoot," said James with a smirk of his own.  
  
"Don't you think the ceiling looks just a bit, I don't know, ominous?" Lily remarked quietly to Remus, who was on her left and James on her right. Sirius was seated on James's left.  
  
Remus spared a glance upward to the ceiling, which had been enchanted to be a replica of the sky outside. "Maybe, I don't think it's anything to worry about."  
  
Lily fell silent, then speared a piece of potato with her fork and placed it in her mouth, devoting most of her attention to her meal. Remus did likewise, while Sirius and James prolonged their conversation.  
  
"Shame there's not a morgue hereabouts," commented Sirius casually, spooning gravy onto his pile of mashed potatoes even as Remus glanced oddly at him from a couple places away.  
  
"Why do you think that mate?" asked James lazily, draping an arm over Lily's shoulders. She looked at him, then returned to the contents of her plate.  
  
Sirius shrugged absently. "I don't know, I just thought it might be cool for our prank." This time Lily and Remus directed odd glances his way. "What?"  
  
"Nothing," they replied, almost in unison. James and Sirius completed the piling of food onto the golden plate and began to consume their sustenance, Lily and Remus resuming their eating. There was no set time to begin pranks, so the four ate leisurely.  
  
When they had finished, Sirius surreptitiously took out his wand and muttered, "Avis." This had the result of conjuring a flock of birds, which swooped about, stole food, and attacked random people, generally causing chaos. Shouts could be heard, such as, "Hey! Give that back!" of "Ow, that hurts, stop pecking me!" The two ebony-haired youths smiled, for the first stage was set.  
  
"Engorgio," whispered James, instantly enlarging the swarms of flying mammals. The birds whirled and dived towards the Slytherin table, taking the wands of most every student, the rose and continued making mischief.  
  
"Hey!" shouted a Ravenclaw, one of the four houses, above the noise of the students and the tempest that had just started. "Those birds have purloined the Slytherins wands!"  
  
"You just noticed?" called back one of the Slytherins, voice dripping with sarcasm.  
  
"Rictusempra!" cried Sirius, wand pointed at the Slytherin table, all the Gryffindors following suit and casting the spell on one person each.  
  
The ones whose wands remained in their possession had enough sense to cry, "Protego!" Shields formed around them, reflecting back the spells from the Gryffindors. Random spells were now flying about, such as Incendio, an instant fire charm, Tarantallegra, something like a dancing charm, and the Jelly-Legs Jinx, which does exactly what it sounds like.  
  
Eventually the frenzy died down, with mixed results. Many had melancholy looks on their faces, particularly the seventh years since that was the last Halloween Hoax they would ever experience. Others were smoothing balm on their bodies, which were covered in boils as a result of the arrangement of spells.  
  
Lily, James, Sirius, and Remus were no worse for the wear. Sure, a part of James's robes were on fire and Remus had been hit with a Jelly-Legs, but none were seriously harmed and the Slytherins had regained their wands.  
  
Remus smiled. "Think you got what you wanted?"  
  
James grinned. "Of course Moony, sure looks that way."  
  
They were right, that particular Halloween Hoax would never be forgotten. 


End file.
